We’re not too far gone. We get to come back. I know.

Those words have echoed in my ears since first hearing them on an episode of The Walking Dead a few weeks ago. In previous episodes, Rick, the main character, nearly loses his mind after experiencing tragedy. His patient and empathetic friend, Hershel, tells him that he can always come back and be who he was meant to be. Rick eventually gets to spread that same message to others, resulting in the above quote.

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As I began writing this post, I watched as U.S. Olympic figure skater Jeremy Abbott spun out of a jump to a nasty fall. It looked as though Abbott might be too injured to get up. But after a few seconds, he stood and skated to the center of the rink where he completed his program with beautiful abandon. It was as though he knew he had nothing to lose, his chances for a medal gone, so he skated with passion. He made quite the comeback in the remainder of his performance. He was met with applause…not just obligatory applause, but the kind that says, Wow! That was amazing!

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The younger brother asked to receive his inheritance early. The father gave as his son asked, and the boy took the money and ran. He ran hard and fast, blowing all his money on friends who eventually left him. Poor and hungry, he took a job tending to pigs. In desperation, he realized that being a servant in his father’s house would be better than his status in the pigpen. He headed home hungry, broken, and defeated.

The father was always watching for him, hoping he’d return home. I can imagine the thrill of excitement when he saw his boy walking home. I think maybe the father couldn’t help but clap his hands. He welcomed his son with open arms, and didn’t even want to hear about the wasted money. Instead, he had something far better to give his boy than money. He called for clean clothes, shoes, the family ring, and a celebratory feast. The father received him not as a servant, as the boy expected, but as the son of royalty he was meant to be.

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Rick, the Olympic skater, and the son all have one thing in common: loss. They each experienced their own forms of defeat and brokenness. But their stories didn’t end there. They each have a comeback story.

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When we reach the point that we feel we’ve lost it all and have no hope, we have nothing left to lose. That’s the perfect time to come back. It’s then that we can move forward with passionate abandon. It’s then that our stories shift from ashes to beauty.  It’s then that Grace says we get to be who we were always meant to be.

We’re never too far gone that we can’t come back. And when we do, the last page of our stories will read, Wow! That was amazing!